How to Make Outsourcing Work for You

Are you new to outsourcing your non-core business functions? Like any learning process, it’s important to begin with the right expectations. As much as small business owners and entrepreneurs like the idea of outsourcing certain non-core functions, they often don’t understand how and why it should be different than having an employee complete similar work.

We’re highlighting some of the common misconceptions about outsourcing, and what you should expect from your outsourced service provider.

Alignment of Expectations

When you outsource a function of your business, being aligned on expectations with your service provider is essential. Alignment allows both the service provider and the client to ensure that they can easily identify successes and failures. This is actually one of the biggest benefits of outsourcing—once your parameters are defined, you can simply focus on results.

A good outsourced service provider will spend time getting to know you, explaining their processes and what they’ll need from you as a client to complete their work. It’s important for both the service provider and client to have a shared understanding of one another’s roles right off the bat.

Process Buy-In

Process development takes considerable time on the part of the service provider, and as the client, you will benefit from having in-depth discussions around processes. It will bring clarity to the whole picture.

Our processes for providing quality monthly financial reporting have been developed with our clients’ best interests in mind. We’re happy to explain the logic behind our processes, because your buy-in is essential to our providing a strong service.

Value-Based Pricing

Cost is always a key influencer when businesses decide to try outsourcing functions. Outsourcing allows an organization to lower costs, improve balance sheets, reduce business risk and expand on their capabilities.

Value-based pricing refers to when providers set the price of a service based on the benefits it provides to their clients, rather than the actual cost of the service. Instead of charging clients an hourly rate, many outsourced services will offer flat rate packages. Forget worrying about driving up your bill every time you need your service providers—simply select a package that works for your business.

Collaborative Workflow

Cloud-based software allows you to work from anywhere—whether you’re at your office computer, home computer or mobile device, you can access your data. This makes collaborating with an outsourced team easier than ever.

Ultimately, outsourcing your non-core functions allows you to free up time to focus on what you do best. However, in order to maximize your outsourced services, you’ll need to know what your involvement in the process will be.

Outsourcing your non-core functions is a powerful way to begin improving and growing your business. Your time is valuable—learn how you can focus more of it on doing what you do best.

This post was written by our friends at Enkel Backoffice Solutions, who provide small-to-midsize businesses with full-service backoffice support, including bookkeeping, payroll management, financial analytics and process outsourcing.